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Matt Barnette

YARMOUTH, Maine—Access control is one of those areas in commercial security that just screams for smartphone compatibility. People seldom leave their home, car or office without their phone in tow, and scanning a prox card or identity badge seems so, well, 2006.

AMAG's big announcement at ISC West was about selling Salient's video products under AMAG's Symmetry name. In an email interview, Matt Barnette characterized the deal as different from its partnerships with other manufacturers. Known for its Symmetry line, AMAG Technoloigies is a provider of access control and integrated security management systems for government and commercial customers.

"Traditionally, we do not resell another technology partner’s products under the Symmetry brand, but this partnership will lead us to faster and greater innovation," Barnette said.

Asked what drove this partnership, Barnette said that AMAG has worked closely with Salient Systems through its Symmetry Extended Business Solutions Program. "They have been a proactive partner, and were always quick to update the integration with our Symmetry product whenever new features were available. Salient valued the technology integration between our two companies and made upgrading the integration a priority. We recognized what a great partner they are, and so did our customers, so it made sense to enhance the partnership."

Barnette said that AMAG and Salient's product management and engineering groups will jointly develop "a unique set of features and future products that will only be available through the AMAG channel."

"Salient offers a VMS and NVR platform, along with a robust mobile app. Many of our customers were looking for the features in the Salient platform and chose to either integrate their Symmetry system with Salient or use it as a stand-alone product," Barnette explained.

The tighter integration will make the system easier to use and may open up "opportunities now for future customers looking for a robust and more standardized access control and video management solution."

AMAG will continue to support its existing Symmetry VMS, encoders and HD cameras, along with its other video management and camera partners. "Our own video product line and existing relationships with video partners are very important to AMAG. Ultimately, what we are accomplishing with this partnership is the creation of products with new unique value and to give our customers more choices," he said.

AMAG Technology is based in Torrance, Calif., and has offices throughout the U.S.

Bob Sawyer, who has been with AMAG Technology for 40 years, the past 19 as president and CEO as of July 1, is now chairman of AMAG’s Board of Directors.

The new president of AMAG is Matt Barnette, who been with AMAG for 10 years, most recently as EVP of global marketing and sales.

Barnette will report to G4S Technology CEO, Keith Whitelock.

I had a chance to correspond via email with Matt yesterday and asked him to fill me in on any new deals AMAG has closed since I last saw him at PSA-TEC in May.

"Since I saw you last at PSA-TEC, we’ve secured several Fortune 100 companies with our Audit, Credentialing & Compliance software. We have installed our Symmetry SR product at two 5,000+ card reader end-users (one in telecommunications and the other in energy sector) and we continue to gain marketshare with our Symmetry Video platform. We are launching Symmetry v8 in August, so there is a lot of momentum right now," he said in the email.

I also asked him about plans for the future. "Fortunately, we have a fantastic foundation here to build from. My plan is to accelerate growth by increasing our Business Development team, both in North America and Internationally, to help blanket the end-user and consultant community to update them on our tremendous products and services. In addition, [I want to] increase our footprint in services revenue by scaling that organization to meet the higher demands of the global accounts we’ve captured. We’ve found customers enjoy a much higher level of product satisfaction when they have a Symmetry Certified ProService Engineer working closely with them."

In a prepared statement, Bob Sawyer said: "Matt Barnette has a deep knowledge of all major aspects of the security products industry coupled with over 20 years of experience building and leading teams. Over the last 10 years, Matt has done an exceptional job leading the sales and marketing teams, while working closely with AMAG’s senior leadership to support the growth of the company’s global organization. His contributions, experience and integrity make him the ideal candidate to succeed me as president of AMAG Technology."

Prior to AMAG, Barnette worked for Andover Controls in its Integral Technologies Division.

AMAG Technology is based in Torrance, Calif., and has offices throughout the U.S., offering security and video solutions to government and private-sector customers in North America through authorized dealers.

On Friday, April 12, Day 3 of ISC West, many were already heading to McCarren, but I was heading back to the show floor. And this year, though the crowd had thinned considerably, so were a lot of other folks.

Very decent crowd for Friday of ISC West.

While I had early rallies on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I didn’t have any official appointments until 10 a.m. on Friday. My first was with IMS/IHS’s Niall Jenkins. We caught up on a few things including plans for TechSec 2014. Yes, plans are underway, and Amy and I have some great ideas—you’ll hear all about them in September.

Next was a meeting with Matt Barnette of AMAG. I was supposed to go to the AMAG A&E and integrators’ event in March. Unfortunately, lengthy flight delays derailed that plan—so I spent some time catching up on some news announced at that event. AMAG is all excited about their new Symmetry SR series retrofit controllers, which can be used to convert competitor’s legacy systems to AMAG’s Symmetry solution. “Our engineers used our existing hardware platform and changed the form factor so it’s a direct pin for pin [upgrade] solution for traditional Casi Rusco solution,” Barnette said.

A couple of years ago, UTC (parent company of Casi Rusco) announced that it would end-of-life its Secure Perfect and Picture Perfect solutions and would transition those customers to a product called Facility Commander. AMAG considers this change in UTC’s roadmap as an opportunity to get those UTC (Casi Rusco) customers to instead transition to AMAG.

Back at the video studio, I did two more ssnTVnews interviews, one with Rob Hile, CEO of IFSS, an independent integrator in Florida and one with Levy Acs of American Integrated Security Group.

Hile and I talked about IFSS’s successful migration to a services-based model, and Acs and I did a follow-up interview on this story I wrote last month about his ambitious growth plans.

The rest of Friday was spent walking the show floor and hanging around the ssnTVnews studio chatting with folks who stopped by.

What was the theme of ISCWest 2013? There was continued talk about mobility and cloud. More manufacturers are figuring out how to offer the two and integrators are starting to see possibilities for making money offering the same. The big theme it seems to me, however, was optimism. There was a vibe at this show I haven’t sensed in many years and, frankly, it’s not what I was expecting after the not-so-crowded ASIS show last fall.

I heard the same from nearly everyone I spoke to. Good to see; nice to be a part of.